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Vol 2: Edition: 3
Costa Blanca Netguide Newsletter
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Hi,
Welcome to this edition of the Costa Blanca Netguide Newsletter.
This month we have the first of a special two-part report on Spanish Fiestas
and Festeros. Next month we will return with our more comprehensive
newsletter including the 2nd part of our report on Fiestas. If you are on the
Costa Blanca at the moment, pour yourself a drink, cool down and keep reading.
Until Next Month
Robin
Costa Blanca Netguide.
editor@costablanca-netguide.com
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CONTENTS:
1. Fiestas and Festeros in Spain - Part 1
2. Spanish Book and CD review and recommendations.
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August on the Costa Blanca as expected is very warm. Nothing seems to get
done and no-one has the energy to get it done except in the case of the
fiestas. They seem to work like clockwork so someone must have organised it
but who? I interviewed a "Festero" of the Jalon fiestas, Tom Bourne, (Tom is
of Welsh parentage and has lived most of his life here) to find out exactly
what needs to be done to put on these spectacular events.
First of all what is a "Festero" or "Festera"?
These are the girls and boys of the town or village whose responsibility it
is to raise the necessary funds and organise the whole affair. They are
invited at the age of 17 and this is when they start the arduous year long
job of raising funds. At the end of the year the fiestas commence with a
presentation ceremony staged in the main plaza where they parade in pairs
onto a bedecked stage. The boys are dressed in smart dark suits and the
girls in beautiful long white dresses similar to wedding gowns and their hair
intricately fashioned. Each boy receives a pin or badge and each girl receives
a sash from the festeros who were in office the previous year.Now it is time
to celebrate the fruits of their year long hard labour with 12 days of
fiestas....and believe me the Spaniards know how to fiesta especially at the
age of 18! The presentation ceremony is well rehearsed and polished until the
final show runs like a professional show. Lighting is perfect, music dramatic,
flowers just so, photographers in place and the whole village there to witness
and add thunderous applause to each beautifully attired couple as they mount
the long sloping walkway up to the awaiting festeros of last years festivities.
Every 17 year old has the right to join in. When the year is finished and
they have reached the age of 18 their 12 day party begins almost parallel
to what we would regard as a coming of age party but this is witnessed and
celebrated by friends, family and the whole village or town who saw them grow
up. It is quite emotional to see and encouraging that these young people
take the responsibilty very seriously and it makes them positively glow.
In Jalon it is also a fiesta to celebrate the Patron Saint of the village -
Sant Domenech but more of that next month plus find out how they celebrate,
how the money is raised and how much needs to be raised!
*All this information is based on the main fiestas of Jalon but most towns
and villages follow the same traditions and themes for their fiestas.
Researched and Reviewed by Suzanna
info.es@costablanca-netguide.com
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2. Spanish Book and CD review and recommendations.
i) Spanish with Michel Thomas--Complete Course CD £54.99
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/bac/smt.html
Michel Thomas's approach to language learning aims to provide in a few hours
a functional working knowledge of a language without books, note-taking or
conscious memorizing. This CD provides an eight-hour course in Spanish.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Customer Reviews
Reviewer: kristof.downer@village.uunet.be from Belgium
I went to Spanish classes, I bought PC software and books, but nothing was
as good as Michel Thomas. I visit Barcelona very often, and I can relax more
now, since I have a good understanding of the language.
Reviewer: A reader from london
By the end of the first CD I had completely thrown of my cynicism! I have
tried a number of spanish courses, and books etc. but whilst retaining a few
cod phrases and a limited ability to communicate in an emergency situation,
I never before managed to get a grip or an understanding of the language and
it's formations.... until I discovered this course. It's easy to look at the
reviews on the back and think "no course could be that good" but unbelievably
the method that Michel Thomas uses works! Thousands of spanish teachers in
GCSE classes must be fearing for their jobs... learning a language shouldn't
be this easy, and if it can be then why did I go through such torture at school?
Admittedly the 8 CDs can not teach you everything, and you will only become
fluent in spanish through years of practice and immersion, but the confidence
and understanding, combined with the ability to construct sentences and
deconstruct what you hear is a better start than you will get anywhere else.
I have since bought some spanish audio books and a couple of novels in
spanish and, though the going is quite slow, the progression is SO satisfying!
Reviewer: james@plumbworld.co.uk from United Kingdom
Excellent on grammer. You find yourself familiar with many different verbs and
tenses. It does not cover many nouns or adjectives which is a little
frustrating. Well worth buying for a beginner as you wont be disappointed
Reviewer: A reader from London
I am sharing a house in London with 3 Spanish girls. The language barrier WAS
causing a lot of problems. It no longer exists. We can work each other out
within seconds now. They can not believe how quickly I have learnt with this
course. Two weeks in, and I am now the house interpreter, I love it.
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/bac/smt.html
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ii. Collins Spanish Large Dictionary £23.99
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/bac/csld.html
This latest edition of the Collins Spanish Dictionary comes as part and
parcel of a general revamping of the whole of Collins dictionary range.
At 2141 pages, it is pretty huge and I can't see it fitting into many
satchels! My last copy which is the third edition was only nine hundred pages
and cost nearly the same back in 1992! - so it is certainly very good value
for money. I read recently that the whole family of these excellent
dictionaries stems from the development of the extensive Collins language
banks, which have been built up over the last thirty years in partnership with
the University of Birmingham. Words are held in corpora of complete texts
in different languages and the introduction to the dictionary gives examples.
These have all been drawn from a wide variety of sources. All this new
information has led to a complete review of presentation method and style
designed to make different senses, set structures and idioms are much easier
to locate, even in the really long entries, some of which cover several pages;
and rather like a luxury car it has nice, small useful touches which you don't
stumble upon until you start using it. Some of these larger entries are quite
literally encyclopedic: both written and spoken varieties are covered, and
there are notes on the language level to indicate the social acceptability
of particular idioms; there is a lot of information about all the different
meanings and usage; complex function words (such as 'do', 'make' or 'get',
llevar, hacer or poner) are fully explained. In addition to this full coverage
is given to Americanisms in both English and Spanish, and cultural entries
appear as boxes to aid in a better understanding of different life styles and
culture. In this era of globalization and localisation this is to be welcomed.
The range of the corpus is stunning and I found myself quite often reaching
for my mono English dictionary to find a lot of the meanings, there are is
also a wide range of slang which can be helpful if you are struggling with
an idiomatic text. As with any half decent dictionary there are verb charts
and notes on correct spelling and pronunciation plus a CD which is a useful
enhancement of the media. As much space is given to Latin American Spanish
as its peninsular and classical counterpart, although the variety now spoken
by over 10% of the population of the USA (particularly in Miami) is not
touched on at all. English pronunciation does get twice the amount of space
as the American variety, and the vagaries of English orthography are covered
in two-and-a-half sides, which in itself is pretty much a masterpiece of
abbreviation. There is a large middle section (coloured in blue) on Language
in Use (Lengua y Uso in Spanish). This will be very useful to intermediate
level learners or adult learners with a limited or rusty knowledge of Spanish,
as it has been laid out by function and so could be a useful revision tool.
The new emilio for 'e-mail' and some other computer-related rarities are
included although I have yet to see them in general use, (computer
Americanisms as in English continue to dominate the IT industry) and there
are two whole pages in the Language in Use section showing e-mail commands
and screen layout. For people like me who sit in front of a computer most of
the day these are very welcome additions. The balance between Spanish and
Latin American entries seems to be in favour of the peninsular variety, which
is a pity as I would like to see a more even balance (Castilian which is
arguably one of the most purest forms of Spanish is spoken more in Latin
America than in Spain itself). Latin America, as is too often the case, is
generalized as a single place rather than a range of contrasting countries
with their own cultural idioms, though of course it would be difficult to give
equal space to them all, you've only got to look at the issues involved in
localising for the Latin American continent to understand that you would
several volumes to do it justice. There is an information box on the different
police forces in Spain, but carabineros (also meaning prawns), is associated
with the whole of Latin America rather than just Chile, Venezuela alone for
example has several different types of police force: political, civil,
instructional and the National Guard, none of them are mentioned here.
The balance between Britain and America is much better, well selected and
pretty well up-to-date. There are useful cross-references between the boxes
and the layout which makes it functional and easy to use, the thumb tabs are
a welcome new addition. The dictionary also comes with a CD Guide to Spanish
Pronunciation which is very helpful for students of the language and means not
having to struggle with the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) quite as
much. This new edition is a 'must-have' for any translator or student of
Spanish and I will go as far as to say it will probably be the benchmark for
some years to come.
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/bac/csld.html
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As always if you have any ideas or suggestions for the Guide please email
us at info@costablanca-netguide.com
If you know someone who may benefit from any of the articles in this newsletter
please feel free to pass it on.
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